AN
ACT Relating to the imposition of criminal penalties and sanctions for the unauthorized
sale of baby food, infant formula, cosmetics, nonprescription drugs, or medical
devices; adding a new chapter to Title 19 RCW; and prescribing penalties.
BE IT
ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 1. The
definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter unless the context
clearly requires otherwise.
(1)(a)
"Unused property market" means any event:
(i)
At which two or more persons offer personal property for sale or exchange and
at which (A) these persons are charged a fee for sale or exchange of personal
property or (B) prospective buyers are charged a fee for admission to the area
at which personal property is offered or displayed for sale or exchange; or
(ii)
Regardless of the number of persons offering or displaying personal property or
the absence of fees, at which personal property is offered or displayed for
sale or exchange if the event is held more than six times in any twelve-month
period.
(b)
"Unused property market" is interchangeable with and applicable to
swap meet, indoor swap meet, flea market, or other similar terms, regardless of
whether these events are held inside a building or outside in the open. The
primary characteristic is that these activities involve a series of sales
sufficient in number, scope, and character to constitute a regular course of
business.
(c)
"Unused property market" does not include:
(i)
An event that is organized for the exclusive benefit of any community chest,
fund, foundation, association, or corporation organized and operated for
religious, educational, or charitable purposes, provided that no part of any
admission fee or parking fee charged vendors or prospective purchasers or the
gross receipts or net earnings from the sale or exchange of personal property,
whether in the form of a percentage of the receipts or earnings, as salary, or
otherwise, inures to the benefit of any private shareholder or person
participating in the organization or conduct of the event; or
(ii)
An event at which all of the personal property offered for sale or displayed is
new, and all persons selling or exchanging personal property, or offering or
displaying personal property for sale or exchange, are manufacturers or
authorized representatives of manufacturers or distributors.
(2)
"Unused property merchant" means any person, other than a vendor or
merchant with an established retail store in the county, who transports an
inventory of goods to a building, vacant lot, or other unused property market location
and who, at that location, displays the goods for sale and sells the goods at
retail or offers the goods for sale at retail, except a person who offers five
or fewer items of the same new and unused merchandise for sale or exchange at
an unused property market.
(3)
"Baby food" or "infant formula" means any food
manufactured, packaged, and labeled specifically for sale for consumption by a
child under the age of two years.
(4)
"Nonprescription drug," which may also be referred to as an over-the-counter
drug, means any nonnarcotic medicine or drug that may be sold without a
prescription and is prepackaged for use by the consumer, prepared by the
manufacturer or producer for use by the consumer, and required to be properly
labeled and unadulterated in accordance with the requirements of the state food
and drug laws and the federal food, drug, and cosmetic act.
"Nonprescription drug" does not include herbal products, dietary
supplements, botanical extracts, or vitamins.
(5)
"Medical device" means any instrument, apparatus, implement, machine,
contrivance, implant, in vitro reagent, tool, or other similar or related
article, including any component part or accessory, which is required under
federal law to bear the label "caution: federal law requires dispensing
by or on the order of a physician"; or which is defined by federal law as
a medical device and is intended for use in the diagnosis of disease or other
conditions or in the cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease in
man or animals or is intended to affect the structure or any function of the
body of man or animals, which does not achieve any of its principal intended
purposes through chemical action within or on the body of man or animals and
which is not dependent upon being metabolized for achievement of any of its
principal intended purposes.
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 2. No
unused property merchant shall offer at an unused property market for sale or
knowingly permit the sale of baby food, infant formula, cosmetics,
nonprescription drugs, or medical devices. This section does not apply to a
person who keeps available for public inspection a written authorization
identifying that person as an authorized representative of the manufacturer or
distributor of such product, as long as the authorization is not false,
fraudulent, or fraudulently obtained.
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 3. This
chapter does not apply to:
(1)
Business conducted in any industry or association trade show; or
(2)
Anyone who sells by sample, catalog, or brochure for future delivery.
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 4. (1) A
first violation of this chapter is a misdemeanor.
(2)
A second violation of this chapter within five years is a gross misdemeanor.
(3)
A third or subsequent violation of this chapter within five years is a class C
felony.
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 5.
Sections 1 through 4 of this act constitute a new chapter in Title 19 RCW.
